In various industrial and military settings, the potential exists for exposure to corrosive or similarly hazardous chemicals. While analytical methods are available, they are unsatisfactory in many cases because they are expensive and time consuming and require trained personnel to operate and analyze the results. In many cases, other considerations mean that analytical methods are not an option even if cost were not an issue.
Prior non-analytical efforts to detect chemicals have been sought, but have focused primarily on the protection of humans using devices effective over a term typically measured in hours. Furthermore, levels of exposure that cause problems in materials are not necessarily the same as, and usually differ from, the types and levels of exposure that would pose danger to humans.
Non-analytical methods for protecting materials and equipment have largely been unsatisfactory, requiring significant amounts of time and expense associated with reactivation or stripping and re-coating after exposure. The processes of reactivation or stripping and recoating are hazardous, time consuming, expensive and may be incompatible with governmental environmental rules and regulations. Many coatings are also non-compatible with the structure to which they are applied, meaning that more expensive alternatives must be used, if available at all. Furthermore, in aircraft, the highest probability for chemical exposure of its exterior occurs when the aircraft is in flight, which is also the time when the exposure is most difficult to monitor through alternative techniques.
What is needed is a chemical indication exposure device that remains effective over long periods of time and which is capable of identifying harmful levels of chemical exposure for materials of construction, which often vary widely from harmful levels for humans.